52 1 . -......... -" : " ,':, i>t,,;;, , .:r<<.. è' 'X. .:, ' l' f ...., t $ 'V' f r < "'" t" . I "" I ' ," f' \ ........ """<<00 ^ I' ' " ! .,. *' to , ! ;, !" r, " ""ìr 1",' U , . ,,< ........", þJo l my candle on the long table in front of that chair, and returned to the lectern to administer the oath of office to Oather, Kenneth Bruton, George McNabb, James Spakes, and the other newly elected senators. After they had all been sworn in and had taken their places at the long table, with candles glowing down its length, I made a short speech about our hopes for the future. I closed the installation cere- mony by asking everyone to join In singing the national anthem. T HE idea of setting up a student government went back to the be- ginning of that school year, when we students were having a lot of trouble with the school's new teachers; we felt A 't -: :>>. ø- '<' ; [(, T T( , I; P' \, I q'!1\ ,\:---", I: - "-<, t \ \ ..<<t.,;.1 .hJ'............... I'I>'<-.. ;: , \ ,. \ j> t{ " 'H' : ) .,.' . ,t '.,;1 ., \/ '"", . .',, ) I, ,'v, ,# t 'II- " .: '" .) t .;; , v .:" ...... ^f ." x . ' .,' , ' ,', f.Í/ . "" ': , ' , , ({ ',', ,,:r .... ' '\. 'f' /" ':"/'0' MÄ " '....'" - , _0 '".. %'; ......... :-:'";':; .: . . . they were behaving capriciously-for instance, giving us bad character marks for no reason at all. One day, Arlie Treadway, Oather, Bruton, and I had the idea of drafting a constitu- tion for the junior-senior high school; we had all studied civics with Mr. Chiles and had been influenced by what we learned from him about de- mocracy. But when we tried out the idea on the other boys in the sleeping hall that night they roundly attacked it. "I ain't had your civics yet, so I don't know about constitutions," Charlie Wren said. He was seventeen and in the eighth grade. "But I bet Mr. Woolly will just tell y'all to go jump." "That he will" Mc- , N abb said. He was twenty- two and in the eleventh grade. "This is a state school, and Mr . Woolly has to answer to the gov- ernor and the legislature. He'd have to be crazy to take the power away from the teachers and give it to the students." "We'll fight Mr. Wool- ly and win, because we are the Sons of Liberty," Bru- ton said. He was Mc- N abb' s best friend and, at eighteen, was also in the eleventh grade. "You crazy boys ain't got even the bows and ar- rows of the Red Indians," Charlie said. He was half- sighted, and his remark was as deflating as if he had inspected the clothes of us totally blind boys before a dance with his one good eye and announced, "Crazy boys in Booneville wouldn't be caught dead in those colors." The next day, Tread- way, Oather, Bruton, and I cornered Mr. Chiles and told him about the stu- dents' discontent with some of the new teachers and about our idea for a student government. "I don't want to pass judgment on my col- leagues," Mr. Chiles said. "But it's a sorry state of affairs when students and teachers draw battle lines. We live and work in the sma11 community of the school, and we should live like a family." He added thoughtfully, "It might be a fine idea, though, for the junior-senior high school to have a student government under a constitution. Your govern- ment couldn't change who your teach- ers are-that's Mr . Woolly's do- main-but it could give you a voice in the running of the school. Still, your government could work only if it had fu11 faculty support and participation. What I'm saying is that if you drafted a constitution on these lines you could go to Mr. Woolly with it and present it not as a manifesto of your rights but as something designed to teach you- and your teachers-about government and civic responsibility. I'll be glad to G, , '{, "